With coal generating less than 40 percent of electricity in the country today, miners are in mourning. Mass lay-offs have become weekly news and residents in Central Appalachia, an area once rich with opportunity, don't know what to do next.

For years, the coal industry has enjoyed tax benefits and exemptions from strict environmental regulations. But those days might be over: President Barack Obama is using EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to try to curb coal power plant emissions, including CO2 and mercury. But coal interests are fighting back in the courts.

While the US is using less coal than we have in the past, we plan to export more coal to Asia. That means transporting it by trains, as we’ve done for decades. But there’s very little research on the effects coal has on the environment when it escapes from coal hoppers bumping along the rails.

With national policy on climate and energy in political gridlock, the opponents are fighting in local and state trenches. That's why money is pouring into a small county north of Seattle, where there's a debate over a shipping terminal that would send coal to Asia.

With national policy on climate and energy in political gridlock, the opponents are fighting in local and state trenches. That's why money is pouring into a small county north of Seattle, where there's a debate over a shipping terminal that would send coal to Asia.

While the US is using less coal than we have in the past, we plan to export more coal to Asia. That means transporting it by trains, as we’ve done for decades. But there’s very little research on the effects coal has on the environment when it escapes from coal hoppers bumping along the rails.

For years, the coal industry has enjoyed tax benefits and exemptions from strict environmental regulations. But those days might be over: President Barack Obama is using EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to try to curb coal power plant emissions, including CO2 and mercury. But coal interests are fighting back in the courts.

With coal generating less than 40 percent of electricity in the country today, miners are in mourning. Mass lay-offs have become weekly news and residents in Central Appalachia, an area once rich with opportunity, don't know what to do next.

With coal generating less than 40 percent of electricity in the country today, miners are in mourning. Mass lay-offs have become weekly news and residents in Central Appalachia, an area once rich with opportunity, don't know what to do next.

For years, the coal industry has enjoyed tax benefits and exemptions from strict environmental regulations. But those days might be over: President Barack Obama is using EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to try to curb coal power plant emissions, including CO2 and mercury. But coal interests are fighting back in the courts.

While the US is using less coal than we have in the past, we plan to export more coal to Asia. That means transporting it by trains, as we’ve done for decades. But there’s very little research on the effects coal has on the environment when it escapes from coal hoppers bumping along the rails.

With national policy on climate and energy in political gridlock, the opponents are fighting in local and state trenches. That's why money is pouring into a small county north of Seattle, where there's a debate over a shipping terminal that would send coal to Asia.

With national policy on climate and energy in political gridlock, the opponents are fighting in local and state trenches. That's why money is pouring into a small county north of Seattle, where there's a debate over a shipping terminal that would send coal to Asia.

For years, the coal industry has enjoyed tax benefits and exemptions from strict environmental regulations. But those days might be over: President Barack Obama is using EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to try to curb coal power plant emissions, including CO2 and mercury. But coal interests are fighting back in the courts.

With coal generating less than 40 percent of electricity in the country today, miners are in mourning. Mass lay-offs have become weekly news and residents in Central Appalachia, an area once rich with opportunity, don't know what to do next.